AT&T Announces FOX’s ‘American Idol’ Seventh Season Breaks All-Time Record for Text Messaging
Posted on May 23, 2008
Filed Under entertainment, mobile phones
AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T)
announced today that the company has shattered its text messaging record of
64.5 million by generating more than 78 million messages this season of
“American Idol” — the most popular show on television.
Since AT&T introduced text message voting in season 2 of FOX’s
“American Idol,” text messaging has continued to play a significant role in
the Idol interactive experience. In fact, during last week’s hometown
visits, a new text messaging component was used to inform the final three
contestants of the Producer’s Choice selection via their Apple iPhones, an
AT&T-exclusive handset.
“There’s no question that Idol fans are texting in huge numbers,” said
David Christopher, chief marketing officer, AT&T’s wireless operations. “We
rolled out a lot of great Idol-themed content this season that kept fans
engaged and connected. From ‘American Idol’ trivia, special sweepstakes,
TXT chats, vote number reminders and, of course, voting, there were plenty
of opportunities for AT&T customers to enhance their favorite Idol
moments.”
AT&T’s sponsorship of “American Idol” helped put text messaging on the
map. Back in 2003, when the text message voting component was first
introduced to the show, text messaging was still a relatively new
technology and almost exclusively limited to the youth market. Today, text
messaging has become almost as popular as voice communication as a way to
stay connected while on the go.
This season, AT&T conducted an informal poll on its Web site to get a
sense from customers about the role text messaging has played. Poll results
are based on the 416 responses submitted March 7 to May 5, 2008.
— Fifty-one percent said they tend to text more frequently during the
“American Idol” season than other times of the year.
— Forty-three percent said they discuss “American Idol” with others
via text messaging while watching the show.
— Twenty-two percent said they first learned to text message by voting
for their favorite Idol contestant.
By texting their votes this season, AT&T’s wireless customers helped
crown a new “American Idol” champion, David Cook, and made it possible for
AT&T to capture a new text messaging milestone for television’s No. 1 show.
About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a premier communications holding company. Its
subsidiaries and affiliates, AT&T operating companies, are the providers of
AT&T services in the United States and around the world. Among their
offerings are the world’s most advanced IP-based business communications
services and the nation’s leading wireless, high speed Internet access and
voice services. In domestic markets, AT&T is known for the directory
publishing and advertising sales leadership of its Yellow Pages and
YELLOWPAGES.COM organizations, and the AT&T brand is licensed to innovators
in such fields as communications equipment. As part of its three-screen
integration strategy, AT&T is expanding its TV entertainment offerings. In
2008, AT&T again ranked No. 1 on Fortune magazine’s World’s Most Admired
Telecommunications Company list and No. 1 on America’s Most Admired
Telecommunications Company list. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and
the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is
available at http://www.att.com.
(C) 2008 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T, the
AT&T logo and all other marks contained herein are trademarks of AT&T
Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies.
Note: This AT&T news release and other announcements are available as
part of an RSS feed at http://www.att.com/rss. For more information, please
review this announcement in the AT&T newsroom at
http://www.att.com/newsroom.
SOURCE AT&T Inc.
Share ThisComments
Leave a Reply